The Numinous World began during the lead‑up to the 2016 presidential election, when the country’s charged atmosphere left me searching for relief. I turned to the trees and flora in my neighborhood, hoping to move beyond simply photographing fall color and instead create images that reflected the emotional turbulence around me. The work became a way to visually process that chaos.

The resulting series consists of fractal, mirrored forms that explore the figure–ground relationships between branches, leaves, buds, and trunks. By digitally stitching symmetrical compositions, I reveal the repeating patterns hidden within these natural structures as they interact with sunlight, streetlight, and their surrounding environments.

These images are meant to be meditative and uncanny—fantastical, magical, macabre, sensual, and slightly ominous. They echo the full range of emotions I grappled with during that period and since. Like visual Rorschach tests, they invite viewers to project their own interpretations, even as the titles hint at more personal themes.